Well, we arrived in Oriental unscathed from West Virginia traditions and still had our bikes on the roof top! Our new home is Oriental Harbor Marina slip A-26. You can see the arrival picture of my lovely wife posed by the car as proof that this is not some drug induced rambling that I'm making up. Hurricane Irene certainly created considerable destruction around both the marina and village. We have floating piers and pilings in the water and almost every home has a pile of furniture, plaster board, and insulation out front for pick up. For us yachties, aka boat people, the crushing blow from Irene is the closure of "The Bean"; the local gathering site for latttes and other expensive forms of caffeine. Four days of rain and no lattes at "The Bean". There was a rumor about a meth lab starting up to deal with the clinical depression but it was raining too steadily day after day for a dock side meth lab! Instead we've been talking of sponsoring a dingy regatta from the marina to "The Bean" when it reopens. Anyone who sends me a wetsuit, for the rain, will have their name prominently displayed as a sponsor on the port or starboard side of Pommes Frites our racing dingy. During the wet days we choose to move our boxes aboard Thalia. We actually had three waves of boxes. Those carried in the car, ones mailed to the post office, and the crushing third wave from UPS! I'm glad to report we survived the onslaught of boxes and now we have remote storage that we can drive around the village. During some of the unpacking on Thalia the admiral/first mate was discussing the equality? of space assigned for crew members until she was reminded of "THE CAPTAINS BOOK OF WARNINGS". With that said she will be starting her own book to be named later. We have two Brits in the slip next to us on a Hans Christian 43 and one other family four slips to the West on a Bristol 45. Both are impressive and lovely boats.

Pamlico County and Oriental Lore
There are a few pictures I've included as documentation of my assertions about local activity. With fall coming and Christmas just around the corner there is the possibility for early shopping. The "Crab Pot/Christmas Tree Showroom" has opened early at the village hardware store. Yes, see pictures! I'm not making this up! Additionally, the local republicans have decided to help the democrats, if they are vascular surgeons so much the better, by hosting a deep fried turkey dinner.

On Boat Entertainment

Since we have no TV we have resorted to simpler forms of entertainment. NPR radio has been a blessing as has reading and talking to our new social group of live aboards on the two adjacent boats. Tony and Ginny are the Brits on the Hans Christian 43 next to us and Jim, Cameron, Beth and Scout are to our West. Scout ,a black nine year old retriever, is our weather guru. If at 8:00 am he is sleeping on the shady side of the boat it will be a mighty toasty day. If in the early morning he is sleeping on the sunny side cool and pleasant is the forecast. Heading inside means thunder or lighting is imminent. Jim is working with him on hurricane and wind predictions. Part of our standard repertoire is offering things we don't need to our neighbors so they can stuff it in their boat! Tony is already wise to this tactic and when offered some spare spanners seriously suggested that I should have two of each spanner to keep the nut on the opposite end from rotating. After reflecting carefully of concepts of symmetry in the cosmos I rejected his assertion and doubled up with " how about some beach chairs!" It seems this game could really get vicious. Someone will come up with a 52 inch flat sceen TV! Well that's the news from the waterfront. Stay tuned on the TV thing.

Great stories and pictures. Have enjoyed seeing your new surroundings. Love the southern stories. Have developed an affection for the southern coasts...we have visited southern Georgia multiple times. Hope to see you down there in 2012. Love you both! Diane

Rick

03 October 2011 12:42:16Z

Are you going to get the Thule cabin-mount adapters so you put the bikes and rocket box on the Thalia?

Sallly

03 October 2011 14:18:10Z

Blind dinghy races are better than a meth lab for a jolt while waiting for The Bean to open.

Al

04 October 2011 01:40:38Z

Can't wait to see the Christmas Lights. Don't forget to hoist the Judy Roger. Oh, are you going to take Diane and Keith water skiing when they visit?